There is talk that Donald Trump may skip the three scheduled presidential debates.
When pressed, Trump denies it. But the talk did not arise in a vacuum. Trump’s campaign has for days been issuing threats and making public demands for changes to the debate schedule. This may be nothing more than an effort, or hope, to reschedule the debates so they don’t clash with football games that will doubtless draw viewers away. But it’s also the kind of thing a campaign might say to prepare the ground, or create an excuse, to get out of it.
We certainly hope this isn’t the case. A refusal to debate would not only be political suicide by Trump, but would also set a terrible precedent.
Perhaps all of the Trump campaign’s public wrangling over debate specifics is just his way of angling for a better “deal.” But he does not wield the sort of influence that would allow him to accomplish this.
Trump comes to the table from a position of weakness. Debates are very much in his interest, not Clinton’s, given the comfortable lead she currently enjoys in public opinion. Trump is far behind not only in must-win swing states but also in several that Mitt Romney carried easily in 2012.
Trump desperately needs voters to reconsider him, and debates probably represent his last and best chance for that. They put him on precisely even ground with the clear front-runner, which in itself gives him a boost, and he will have the chance to defeat her in several hours of prime-time jousting. A decision not to debate would be an effective forfeit of the election.
A more important consideration, that will outlast Trump’s political career, is that voters deserve to see the candidates stand toe-to-toe.
It’s several decades since the last debate-free presidential election, and with good reason. They serve now as crucial public interviews for the most important job in American government. You cannot expect to be hired if you fail to show up for the interview. That’s especially true if the boss, in this case the voters, are leaning heavily on another candidate for the position.
If Trump balks he’d make a mockery of the election, but future candidates could nevertheless follow the precedent he would set. A candidate with a comfortable lead, whether in a presidential race or in one lower down the ballot, could refuse to debate and expose himself or herself to the possibility of a slip-up. Currently, no candidate quite dares to skip debates because they are excoriated for it if they do.
Our republican form of government depends on people being informed and involved. Candidates who think themselves too important or too well placed to submit to public scrutiny do damage to a system that must be nurtured and preserved.
